The Uncanny X-Men are a superhero team of mutants that were founded by fellow mutant Professor Charles Xavier. They are dedicated to helping fellow mutants and sworn to protect a world that fears and hates them.

Where to begin?

Hey all I'm hoping sum1 can help me. I'm a complete noob to comics but really wanna get into the xmen comics but the choice is so staggering and my only experience with xmen is the old animated series as a kid. Could sum1 point me in the right direction please so I am in chronological order if that's even possible

@Bwood44: hey there! I've been reading X-men for about twenty years now, so I figure I can point you in a pretty good direction. Keep in mind though, everyone likes different periods of the X-men differently. Some people might tell you to start right from the original Lee & Kirby era, some might say Giant Size X-men #1, and a lot of people seem to think that the Dark Phoenix Saga is a good place to start -and none of these people are wrong.

Honestly, I would advise starting just after the Dark Phoenix Saga, with the Days of Future Past storyline. It's only two issues and is pretty easy to find reprinted on it's own. Kitty Pryde has just recently joined the team, and most of the classic characters are still pretty new, but because some of the story is set in the future, we get a good idea of how characters like Kitty herself, the Wolverine and even Magneto are destined to develop over time.

After that, I would advise jumping ahead a little and tracking down God Loves, Man Kills. Between these first two, you should have a pretty good idea of the major themes of the X-men, and remember, almost nobody reads them all in the proper order anyways, and you can always back track once you've got your bearings.

If you want to continue skipping to the major points, I'd advise jumping ahead to the Trial of Magneto (#200) and Duel (#201), and just read strait through until the Mutant Massacre that happens a few years later. After that, you won't be missing anything essential if you skip ahead to Uncanny X-men #300 and roll with that until, say, the early 320's or so.

Now, so far, other than God Loves, Man Kills, I've only been mentioning the original series (or, Uncanny X-men), But around the early 2000's, there was a bit of a new beginning for the X-men with Grant Morrison's New X-men, the first three or four storylines of which are quite refreshing, and pretty easy to find in trades.

Morrison's run is also a great warm up and natural precursor for the almost universally beloved Astonishing X-men , from Josh Whedon and John Cassaday, in 2004. This is classic X-men, and actually what I usually lend to people to show them how good the X-men can be. Actually, if you did just start here, you'd be starting on pretty firm ground.

Hey dangallant, thanx a lot for all that info mate it's more than I was expecting and very helpful. I will take ur advise and start ordering a few to make a start I'm looking forward to it the choice is amazing and expect I will be a long term xmen reader from now on. thanx again for the help I really appreciate it.

Chris Claremont's 18 or so years run. Or you can start from the 90s team (like the animated series), then read Uncanny X-Men 282 onwards and X-Men: Mutant Genesis (which is the second X-Men title) To find out whats happening more recently, read Messiah Complex - Messiah War - Second Coming. An epic trilogy.